A World Upside Down
by makatttack
Summary: Everything seemed to be going just fine in Hermione Granger's life...until it wasn't. With a sudden unexpected tragedy Hermione is now placed into a position she never thought she'd be in - raising someone else's child with someone she never expected. How was this ever going to work? DM/HG
1. Chapter 1

Hermione made her way down the hall in St Mungos, heading towards the the break room. She was exhausted after dealing with such a difficult patient that morning. Why do all older witches believe they know absolutely everything? If you have already self diagnosed yourself and refuse to listen to actual healers, why even bother coming in? Hermione decided that after today she would never cover for Patil ever again.

As she walked past reception she shot a smile at Rebecca, a spunky little thing fresh out of Hogwarts. She sure kept Hermione's work life lively, she was also a great friend and they hit it off immediately despite the six year age gap. It was nice having a friend who hadn't been plagued with the war. Rebecca was more carefree and youthful, it was refreshing. Rebecca wasn't her only work friend though, surprisingly Pansy Parkinson, now Nott, was also one of her good friends.

They started healer training together about a year after the war, and in the beginning it was really rough. The amount of times the two women almost hexed each other was immeasurable. The constant fighting only frustrated their trainers and eventually, after they almost caused a huge potion disaster due to their constant bickering they were pulled into the head trainers office and given an ultimatum; get along or leave the program. After that they called a truce and did their best to lessen the bickering. When they were no longer constantly going at each others heads they realized they actually had quite a bit in common. Hermione even ended up as Pansy's maid of honor in her wedding and the godmother of her little girl.

"Hey Becs, how's it going? Any interesting cases come through yet?" asked Hermione. Becca always filled them in on the funniest and most interesting cases throughout the day, usually caused by kids and their accidental magic. However, one would be surprised on the amount of adults who get themselves in to similar situations.

"Well actually this one kid came in with…" Rebecca started but was interrupted as the front doors burst in with an emergency patient. Hermione quickly rushed to the patient who was covered in blood. She started to try and stabilize the patient but the damage was tremendous, the body was covered in blood. Hermione was quite amazed the women was even still alive.

That's when she saw the bracelet on the woman's right wrist. It was a gold bangle encrusted in emeralds, her daughter's birthstone. Hermione would recognize it anywhere, Theo had given it to Pansy right after Paisley was born just a little over half a year ago. Hermione gut clenched but she did not lose her focus. The most important thing right now was saving Pansy.

Eventually, after Pansy was stable enough to be moved, the specialists whisked her away to try and stop the bleeding permanently. Hermione stared at her blood covered hands in disbelief. All of the sudden a rush of worries hit her. Where was Paisley? Was she okay? And Theo, where was he? Why wasn't he here? She needed to contact him. Hermione rushed the the floo and tried to get through to Nott Manor but got nothing. Hermione thought maybe the men who brought Pansy would know something. She found them on the third floor.

"The women you brought in, a little while ago, was she alone when you found her?" questioned Hermione.

"There were two of them, a man and her, the lady we brought in. It was a terrible accident. The poor lad didn't make it though, died instantly. Shame too, looked quite young." Hermione swallowed and nodded, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She didn't know where to go from here. Who should she contact? Hermione thanked the lucky stars that Paisley was safe with her godfather as per usual on Thursday nights. They switched off biweekly so Theo and Pansy could have their date night. She sat in the waiting room outside where they were working on Pansy for what felt like forever. Finally Healer Thaddeus came out, he took one look at Hermione and she knew he was not going to be giving her good news.

"I'm so sorry Hermione, we tried everything. The was too much internal bleeding that was not originally detected. The damage was just too great. Nott was one hell of a healer and she'll be missed." Hermione collapsed to the ground. Her heart ached for the little eight month old baby completely oblivious to the fact that she was now an orphan.

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 **A/N - Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this! I know it has been a while since I've written a story but hey I'm back! I'm not 100% where this is going but hey it'd be cool if you'd stick around and find out. This chapter was pretty short but I do plan on making the following ones quite a bit longer. This is kind of like a little intro/tease. Next up introduction to the godfather..hmm I wonder who. Also I'm terribly sorry if there are any spelling/grammar mistakes, I wrote this pretty late and immediately posted. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks again, hope to see ya'll next chapter (;**


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione woke up in a hospital bed, she glanced over to the couch to see Rebecca sitting there. The girl's eyes were red and puffy.

"Oh hi, how are you feeling?" Rebecca asked somewhat awkwardly when she noticed Hermione was finally awake.

"As well as can be expected. How long have I been out?" Hermione was emotionally and physically exhausted, today had been the worst day she'd had in a long time.  
"Just a few hours, you passed out after...after the news" Hermione just nodded, she still felt numb. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry, but she knew she couldn't, not right now. Rebecca handed her a glass of ice water and sandwich insisting she eat. Hermione sighed and took the food.

"Draco Malfoy has been informed. He seemed to take it pretty hard. Requested your presence at his home when you woke up though."

Hermione groaned, why did they have to chose him of all people to be godfather. Blaise Zabini would have been a much better choice, at least they could remain in the same room for more than fifteen minutes without fighting. She knew she shouldn't be surprised though, Malfoy was Pansy's childhood best friend. And even Hermione couldn't deny he was a good godfather, he doted on that little girl like she was his own. It was a bit discerning at first to be honest. Hermione just wished they didn't have to share the duty of godparents. It made everything so complicated, especially now.

After finishing her food Hermione gave Becca a tight comforting squeeze and headed out. She stopped by her apartment to change her clothes and sent a quick owl to Malfoy to let him know she was on her way. While Hermione dreaded having to see him at that moment, she couldn't wait to snuggle up her goddaughter.

When Hermione stepped through the floo what she saw was saddening. Draco sat on the floor with the baby looking like he was in pain, but still smiling at the little girl and going along with her antics. She couldn't help but admire him in that moment. Sure Pansy was one of her best friends, but she was like Draco's sister. Not to mention he was a lot closer to Theo then she had ever been. She imagined this was quite a blow, especially since he didn't have much family left.

"Hi" she whispered. Both Draco and Paisley turned toward her. Paisley gave her a gummy smile and shrieked. Hermione couldn't help but turn her lips up a bit.

"Hey" was all he managed back. The air in the room felt think with awkwardness, usually if they were left in the same room alone it was constant bickering. Guess they'd have to work on that now. Hermione moved to sit down on the other side of Paisley and laid a kiss on her little forehead.

"I guess this is our life now" Hermione whispered.

"I guess so" Draco replied.

A week after the accident, the funeral was held. It was a somber affair, the sky was gray and cloudy which fit perfectly for the occasion. Hermione cried during the whole thing, and Draco just looked numb. Hermione swore she saw a tear roll down his cheek though, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. They both agreed that Paisley did not need to be there, she was much too young and it just wasn't the place for a baby. Mrs. Malfoy agreed to watch her, this made Hermione apprehensive but she was too drained to fight Malfoy on it. One day wouldn't hurt right?

After the funeral they met with Pansy and Theo's lawyer to discuss their will. Unsurprisingly, Paisley had been left in their custody. The couple had left Nott Manor, the Parkinson Villa in France, and their entire fortune to Paisley. However, it was theirs to monitor until Paisley was an adult.

The two weeks following the funeral were rough. Draco and Hermione struggled to find a routine that worked. Poor Paisley was being tossed around between their two apartments constantly and it seemed to be distressing her. Neither of them could agree on where she should stay majority of the time and it seemed like they couldn't have an adult conversation without it turning into a fight.

Hermione was exhausted, she would have to return to work soon and she wanted to get everything together beforehand. The situation had been nothing but frustrating, she has hoped they could manage to get along for their goddaughters sake but lately it seemed like that just wasn't happening. But, as maddening as Malfoy was she knew she needed to keep trying. Hermione quickly penned an owl to Malfoy asking him to meet her and Paisley at Fortescue's. Maybe if they were in public and with Paisley there'd be less yelling, at least she hoped.

The owl quickly returned with a simple " _alright_ " penned elegantly on the parchment. Hermione bundled Paisley up and headed out. When they arrived, Malfoy was already there. He was eating some ice cream already and it looked like he had ordered for her as well. Hermione opened her mouth ready to ask about it when he interrupted her.

"Apple Crumble" he said with a shrug, "Your favorite, right?"

"Oh, um yeah" was all she could manage before mumbling a quick thanks and sitting down. How did he even know her favorite ice cream flavor? Draco quickly turned his attention to his goddaughter, even giving her a little taste of his ice cream.

"Don't do that, what if it's not good for her?" Hermione pointed out.

"Stop being such a spoil spurt Granger, she'll be fine. Won't you princess?" Paisley gurgled happily. Draco gave her an expectant look as if to say see? Hermione huffed but refrained from saying anything else.

"So Granger, what did you want to discuss?"

"Well I thought we should finally sort out the living arrangements for Paisley. This inconsistency is probably not good for her. I was thinking.."

Draco quickly interrupted her, "She's not living with you."

"You don't even know what I was gonna suggest!"

"Was it not having her live full time with you and that I could just come over whenever?" he questioned impatiently, "Maybe have her on the occasional weekend?" Hermione's whole face turned bright red, he wasn't wrong.

"I..well" Hermione started to stutter out.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. It's not fair Granger and you know it, she's my goddaughter too."

"Well then what do you suggest? That we move in together and share her fifty fifty?" Hermione tried to joke.

"Well actually that's not a terrible idea." He had to be pulling her leg right? Not a terrible idea? That's exactly what it was. They'd kill each other within the first day.

"Now Granger, hear me out" he started "There are two perfectly good homes, quite a bit larger than bother of our flats that are currently unoccupied. All of Paisley's stuff is still in Nott Manor, and it's big enough to give us enough space apart. We'd both be able to be around Paisley and also not be around each other." Hermione was annoyed, of course the ferret had to come up with something like this, and it actually make sense.

Hermione sighed, as much as she didn't want to live with him this was about what was best for their goddaughter. "Fine, we'll move into Nott Manor." Draco couldn't help but smirk.

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 **A/N - Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I figured since the first chapter was kind of a train wreck I'd update today! I haven't decided on a consistent update time yet, but we'll see! This month is my last month of school for the semester so updates might be a little spacey for the next few weeks but after that it should remain more consistent. Again thanks so much and don't forget to review!**


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